


Kindred Spirits

by imperfectPacifist



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: AU, M/M, anikishipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3521711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imperfectPacifist/pseuds/imperfectPacifist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where Shou and Judai are the children of rich business people.</p><p>*Summary will be improved later</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kindred Spirits

Judai sighed, swirling his drink in an attempt to entertain himself.

"You're impossible, you know that?" He scoffed. Across the table from him, her brown eyes danced with laughter and the corners of her lips were quirked up in an amused smirk.

"I mean it! We're at a party surrounded by hundreds of people to talk to and who knows how many different types of food and you're sitting here. _B_ _ored_."

"Hypocrite. Don't pretend that you find this type of party, and the type of people who show up at them, entertaining. If you did, you wouldn't be here with me. Hiding from everyone." She rolled her eyes, smiling. Judai smirked, chuckling lightly.

Discreetly, he looked out from the pillar that their table was sequestered behind. The sea of people was as thick as it had been when the party had started. Servers traipsed around carrying platters of hors d'oeuvres and offering them to the stuck up bigwigs that populated the room. Judai grimaced, thankful for his secluded table and for the safety of his sister's company.

"Why does dad have to throw these big parties?" He asked, sinking into his seat.

"Probably so he feels as if there's a use for the excessively large house he bought."

"Oh yeah, because buying a mansion solely so that you can impress a bunch of business people is _so_  practical." Judai scoffed

"Well, his job is very competitive, so he probably feels like he has to go the extra mile to impress his potential partners."

"As if he and mom aren't impressive enough with their whole power couple thing." His sister hummed in agreement, absentmindedly stirring her drink.

"Then, to top it off, they have two successful children-"

"Three." His sister cut in. "I'm still in school and my grades leave plenty to be desired. You know damn well that I don't count." He spat.

"You're more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. If you would just apply yourself-"

"Whatever, my point is that they are the epitome of success. I really doubt that dad has to go this far. Speaking of children," Judai peeked out from behind the pillar, scanning the crowd, "where is the prodigal son anyway?"

"Being shown off by dad, as per usual." His sister sighed.

"Kind of like you'll be of mom finds you?"

"Yup." Judai tried to pay attention to what his sister said next, some complaint about being led around like a show dog, but he had noticed something right as had been turning around.

A small, blue haired boy, probably around his age, sitting alone at a table not to far from theirs.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Hm? Where?" His sister looked around, before he pointed out where the boy was sitting.

"Oh. I'm not sure..."

"Hana!" Their mother's voice rang out, making him cringe.

"Oh God." His sister moaned. Judai could only give her a sympathetic look.

"You have to meet this man! He's been absolutely _dying_  to get to know you!" Judai sank into his chair, praying that she wouldn't notice him. Luckily, their mother's attention was focused solely on his sister and he released a breath he hadn't known he had been holding as she rushed past him without so much as throwing a glance in his direction. Judai could only look on as she grabbed Hana and dragged her off into the throng of people.

Now alone at the table, Judai sipped at his drink. He frowned at the watered down taste of the soda due to the melted ice. Drumming his fingers against the table, he caught his eyes drifting over to the boy at the other table again. Judai noticed that he was glancing up into the crowd nervously every few minutes. Curiosity was eating at him and, before he was really certain of what he was doing, Judai was up and walking over to the other boy's table.

"Pretty boring, huh?" The boy jumped at his voice and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Judai asked, noticing how his eyes shifted nervously from his face to the crowd.

"Yeah. Well...sort of." Judai raised an eyebrow, confused.

"My parents and brother are talking to some of the other party guests." He clarified. Judai nodded in understanding.

"And you're trying to avoid that?" He noted how after that assumption, the boy refused to meet his gaze.

"Well, my brother is more prominently known, so they don't really need me." Judai empathized with the boy's situation. How many times had he been pushed to the side in favor of his more successful siblings?

Then again, it wasn't as if he begrudged his siblings all the attention they received.

"Well, I wouldn't feel too bad." Judai stated, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.

"There's nothing all that fun about being paraded around the ring like a show dog." He repeated the words his sister had used, the truth in them not lost on him.

"Is that why you're here, then? Trying to avoid being drawn into your family's conversations?" Judai smiled tiredly.

"Not anymore, actually. Since my mother managed to drag my sister off with her and my dad has my brother, I'm pretty sure I'm safe." The boy laughed lightly and Judai's smile became much more genuine. He liked it when he laughed. It was a pleasant sound and the way his lips lifted into a small smile was much better than the depressed or nervous expression he had been wearing before.

"What's your name?" Judai asked, realizing that he still did not know the other boy's name.

"Shou Marufuji." Judai's eyes widened in surprise for a moment. He found it hard to believe that this boy was a member of the Marufuji family. Their name was one of the biggest in business. Yet this boy didn't carry himself the way that most of the children of rich families did. He didn't act proud or confident. Earlier, he had looked as if he had been trying to make  himself as small as possible.

However, Judai supposed that Shou's smile did hold a certain small amount of charisma. After all, it made warmth swell  in Judai's chest in a pleasant way.

"And yours?" Shou asked.

"Judai Yuki." He found himself smiling in return as he offered his name.

"Yuki? You mean the family that my parents were talking about partnering with?" The shock in Shou's voice made Judai raise an eyebrow, resisting the urge to sigh.

"Really? Well, I'm sure my father will be pleased about that." Judai grinned, disliking how fake it felt.

He knew he shouldn't have been so disappointed. After all, this was how it always went at these parties. Judai would try to avoid the pompous bastards that would populate the house, until he could successfully slip away to his room. If he couldn't, he would pretend to find their irritating babbling interesting and grin and bear it for his parent's sake. On the off chance that he found someone who's company he actually enjoyed, oftentimes someone who didn't know who he was, the moment they heard his last name, they would gush and reiterate his father's and mother's accomplishments. Sometimes they would even bring up the successes of his brother and sister.

All of these things he was well aware of. These were the things that he had grown up in the shadow of.

"In that case, it's nice to meet you." Judai nodded in response to Shou's words, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"So, do these parties tend to last for a while?" Judai eyed Shou somewhat warily. The question, although innocent and asked meekly, took him off guard.

"It...depends." Judai answered slowly The fact that Shou was not overly interested in his family name was unexpected...but a welcome surprise. However, there was one question that preyed on Judai's mind.

"When I told you my name," Judai paused, not quite sure how to say it, "you seemed...surprised." Shou looked sheepish and Judai had to resist smiling at how adorable the expression looked on him.

"I _was_  surprised that I met you. I mean, my family is off trying to strike a business deal with your family and I'm not needed for that. So, I kind of figured that I wouldn't be seeing any members of your family."

"You thought that we would all be off mingling with the party guests and trying to strike business deals with potential partners?" Shou nodded and Judai couldn't help but scoff. His companion's put out expression made him smile apologetically.

"Sorry, I just find the idea of me being involved in my parent's business sort of ridiculous." Shou tilted his head curiously.

"I'm not the type of person to be involved in business. It involves too many numbers and careful decisions. I can barely manage a 'C' in math and logic forethought isn't one of my strong points. Or, so I've been told." Judai nearly rolled his eyes as he remembered his sister scolding him for not thinking about the consequences of his actions.

"But your sister and brother are?" Judai shook his head.

"No. Well, yes, but they aren't involved in my parent's business either. Of course they're smart and a lot wiser than I am, but they're also older than me. My sister is a scientist, while my brother is a detective. Since they both have such successful careers people are more interested in meeting them." Judai chose not to mention how their parents were more than happy to show them off.

The conversation lapsed into a comfortable silence. He pretended to watch the people interacting in the center of the room, but his attention was really focused on Shou. Judai cast a few furtive glances in his direction.

Shou had his hands placed in his lap and his gaze was cast down at them. However, his posture no longer held the air of nervousness it had held before. He didn't appear as tense and it no longer seemed as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible. His eyes didn't shift to the crowd every few seconds as if he was searching for an escape route like they had earlier.

In fact...it almost seemed as like Shou had thrived upon the attention. He sat with his shoulders drawn back and his back straight, a far cry from the way he had been practically curled in on himself before. There was a small smile playing across his lips and the corners of Judai's own mouth turned up in return.

"Judai!" He cursed quietly as his mother appeared, detaching herself from the crowd to make her way toward their table.

'Well, it was nice while it lasted.' Judai thought miserably. He looked over at Shou, smiling apologetically.

"Looks like I'll be taking a lap around the ring after all." Judai stood and stretched, before grinning at Shou.

"See you later." Throwing a wave over his shoulder, he turned and walked over to meet his mother, nodding and pretending to listen as she gushed about how he just _had_  to meet whichever person for whatever reason.

Before they disappeared into the sea of people, Judai glanced back. His eyes met Shou's one final time before the crowd engulfed them.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh sweet mother of Jesus this was hard to post. I'm happy that I finally managed to post it, though.


End file.
